This skill consists of riding the unicycle sideways in the "hopping standing on the wheel" position, that is, holding the seat tight with both hands, and one foot on each side of the frame.

The first step for learning this skill is to learn to step up one foot at a time into hopping on the wheel, rather than jumping into that position. Once you are comfortable with this, step up, and try to move the wheel sideways. One foot will be pushing the wheel and the other will be pulling it. Concentrate on the pushing foot (the left foot if you go to the left, and the right foot if you go to the right), as it provides most of the power and makes all the balance corrections. After a few months working on this skill, I found that only the pushing foot was necessary, so now I generally do sideways wheel walk one-footed. The advantage of doing it one-footed is that your feet don't have to work together nearly so much, and you can use the free leg for balance adjustments, the same way you use your arms for most tricks. The basic method of practicing this skill is to climb into the position and start moving. Because you need both arms to hold the seat, you can't work from the wall or ceiling, although it might help to have someone as a spotter. Some things to think about when learning are:

1. Very important! Put all your weight on the seat through your arms. Try to be fairly high up and over the seat so that you will be steady in this position. Don't try to squat, and don't put any weight on your feet. You just use them to kick the wheel lightly along. If you get sore wrists or break the seat because of this, you are doing something right.

2. Almost all balance adjustments are made with the pusher foot. Forward and back adjustments, (from the unicycles point of view) are made by speeding up or slowing down as necessary. Side to side adjustments are made by steering the unicycle a tiny amount to the right or left.

3.Your speed should probably be slightly faster than regular wheel walking, probably about riding speed. This will increase the wheel's momentum and give you more stability.

The transitions are fairly simple. To get into sideways wheel walk, do a normal transition to hopping on the wheel. Then lean slightly in the direction you wish to move and go for it. To get out of this skill, do a short sideways glide while leaning back a little in order to come to a stop. Then hop on the wheel and transition back to pedals by your preferred method.

Like coasting and other advanced skills, sideways wheel walk takes a long time to learn, but it's definitely worth it!

There are several ways to wheel walk with your hands, the two basic types being sitting on the seat with the feet on the frame and stomach on the seat with legs extended. Some other variations are sitting on the seat with the feet out, sideways hand wheel walk with the stomach on the seat, one-handed hand wheel walk, backward hand wheel walk, and even wheel walking using only the thumbs.

Hand wheel walk with the stomach on the seat is probably the easiest variation. If you can wheel walk regularly and ride stomach on the seat, you can start learning this skill. First, set the unicycle upright and facing forward and rest your stomach on the seat. Experiment with different positions until you find one that is relatively comfortable. Then hold the wheel with one hand and rest the other near the frame, gradually transferring your weight from your feet and to the seat. When you are resting mostly on the seat and feel stable, take your feet off the ground and splay them out to the side a little bit. Your legs can move around quite a bit to help you balance. Now start pushing the wheel with your hands. Try to avoid catching your fingers in the spokes. The main problem you are likely to experience is that you will get a headache and sore chest from putting so much weight on your rib cage. You may also find yourself having trouble breathing while working on this skill. Try to remain conscious of how you are breathing.

The transitions for this skill should be relatively easy, but for some reason I have a hard time with them. To get into it, ride stomach on seat at the hand wheel walking pace, then put your hands on the wheel and start pushing it. To get out of it, you can put your feet back on the pedals at almost any position, than stand up into seat in front riding. You can also do a cool mount by running at a nice rate, sticking the seat under your stomach, and slamming the wheel into the ground. You can make your whole body from the waist down fly well up into the air as you brake the wheel to a normal pace.

Once you have stomach on seat hand wheel walk down, I recommend you learn it sitting on the seat. You see this variaition a lot more often in freestyle performances and competitions, since it looks a lot better. (although both variations look rather comical) Learning this skill can be rather problematic, since you can't mount into it, getting into it from idling is somewhat tricky at first, and you can't use a wall, since you have no way to hold onto it. The best methods are to have a spotter steer you along until you can practice it from idling, or to do it from a pole or the end of a wall. I used a book cabinet in my basement. You also have to have the right kind of saddle. Something like the Torker CX or the Savage saddle is too small and will be very painful. I really like the standard Kris Holm saddle for this trick, as it is fairly big and offers lots of support. How you sit on the seat can make a big difference, especially for guys. Try to sit back on the end of the seat, so that when you lean over your weight will rest mostly on your abdomen, not certain sensitive areas. This is even more the case if you want to learn hand wheel walk with the legs extended. When you try it the first time, get into a steady position and hold onto something with your one hand. Then transfer your feet and other hand to wheel one at time, and lean down and forward. The farther forward you lean, the easier it will be to balance. Put as much weight on the fork through your legs as possible to decrease the discomfort. Now push the wheel a couple times with the hand on the wheel until you are clear of your support, then bring the other hand down and get started. You should make the pushes a ways down the wheel, not right near the fork. You make the balance corrections by changing the speed and direction of your pushes, and by leaning your upper body from one side to another. Side to side balance is the tricky part. If you are falling off to one side slowly, and turning slighlty, try to swing your whole upper body to the other side. If you realize that you are falling off soon enough, you can right yourself this way.

As soon as you can get ten or fifteen steps fairly often, you should try learning to go into hand wheel walk from idling or riding. Mount sitting a lot farther back than normal and idle smoothly, then come to a stop at the end of a large forward stroke and begin transferring your limbs. First move the high idling foot, then put one hand on the wheel. Then transfer the other foot, give the wheel a push with your first hand and get the other hand in place behind it. If you don't get both feet placed securely on the fork, (you need a solid square fork for this skill) get off immediately. The best term to describe what happens when one or both of your feet slip off the wrong way is "wedgie."

Getting out of this skill can be a little tricky. I have done it two ways. One way is to quickly raise your body and put your feet on the wheel, do a short wheel walk, then drop to the pedals. The other is to wait until a pedal is coming down, then quickly move your foot from the fork to the pedal. Raise your body quickly and go into one-footed idling, then get your other foot down.

Like regular one-footed riding, this skill should be learned in the open. The most common method seems to be to transition from one-footed idling, but experiment with getting into it from backward riding and riding forward one-footed as well, so that you find what works best for you. Concentrate on pulling the pedal through the upstroke as this is usually the hardest part. Lean back a ways too, but always be careful to avoid a high speed backward dismount which could be dangerous.
[edit]

Gliding

Gliding is when you have one foot on the crown of the frame and one foot placed on the tire to control speed and aid balance. It is easiest to see gliding as a progression from one foot wheel walking. Try to wheel walk one footed down a hill and you'll end up gliding. Also practice going from one foot riding directly into gliding, especially on flat ground, and eventually from riding directly into gliding. It may take several weeks to learn this skill well. Try to apply as little pressure as possible on the tire, and lean back.

Gliding as a flatland skill is fun when done in a circle. Ride fast in a big circle, leaning heavily to one side. Now switch to gliding with as little pressure as possible, still leaning heavily to one side. You tend to go in a spiral rather than a proper circle, and end by straightening up and doing a very small piroutte.

Gliding does not provide a relaxing, fast and safe way to go down dirt roads. If you go faster than you can ride, then you're definitely in the danger zone. Some information on the extremely dangerous activity HSG or high speed gliding can be found here. The editors of this site assume no responsibility for what may happen to you if you try it!

Coasting is one of the most enjoyable things you can do on a unicycle in my opinion. For those who don't know the distinction, gliding is riding the unicycle with one foot on the wheel as a brake and the other on the fork (or extended) while coasting is riding the unicycle without contacting the wheel, pedals, or anything except the frame and saddle. Coasting is much harder.

To learn to coast, first get really good at one-footed riding, so that you can ride along smoothly, at a steady speed, and without accelerating or braking the wheel in any way. Actually you don't need to be quite that good at one-footed riding to start learning to coast, but after a little while working on this skill, you will have one-footed riding down this well. Although it would probably be advisable to learn to glide before working seriously on coasting, this isn't necessary, since the balancing mechanisms are quite different for the two skills.

Now you can move on to the actual coasting. From smooth one-footed riding at a not too fast or too slow rate, take the pedalling foot off and let it hang next to the spinning pedal. In all likelihood, you will fall off immediately. It is of utmost importance that at this point you do not kick the pedal or affect it in anyway. You need to coast off at the same speed, balanced in the same way which you were before starting the coast. Practice this step for a while until you are comfortable with taking your foot off the pedal and falling off. You will find that you sometimes coast short distaces without trying very hard. It is a great feeling when it does happen.

When you are comfortable with this, you can start working on balancing in this position and experimenting with various postures. There are two basic ways to coast; either with one leg extended and the other on the fork, or with both feet resting solidly on the fork. I recommend that you experiment with both to find which way works for you, keeping in mind however that most unicyclists seem to find coasting with both feet on the fork easier. Although it is harder to get into and easier to fall from improperly, it offers more stability. The basic balancing mechanism for coasting is a rocking motion that is rather difficult to explain. I suggest watching some videos or actually watching other unicyclists coast if possible so that you will know when you are balancing properly. If you are falling off forwards, you need to lean forward by bending at the waist. This will cause your waist region to move back and the wheel to move forward also, thus correcting your balance. If you are too far back, lean back. I find the forward adjustments a lot easier. One important tip to balance yourself properly is to keep your arms straight and raise them nearly vertical. Some riders keep their arms farther down when they coast, but almost all extend them in some way. Experiment with various arm positions and find what works for you. I suggest trying to switch to coasting with both feet on fork after you have worked on the leg extended variation for perhaps a a while. Try to plant both feet solidly on the fork. I find it even helps to squeeze the seat post tightly between my feet. This will probably work best if your frame has a nice solid square fork which offers a lot of support.

Coasting is an extremely difficult skill, and one which requires a lot of commitment to learn. It took me six months of hard practice. But if you keep with it, you will have a highly enjoyably skill that is very satisfying and also impressive. It is worth it.

Once you can coast smoothly for a ways, try getting out of it. The easiest method is to switch to gliding, then to wheel walking, then to the pedals. Getting out of coasting is a relatively easy skill, which probably does not require much advice.

Here are videos of Trevor Scholfield demonstrating superb coasting technique, Shaun Johanneson demonstrating coasting with the leg extended, and Jonathan Miersma showing us how to get out of coasting the easy way.

As an interesting historical note, coasting was, as far as is known, first done by a Swede, Joakim Malm, around 1980. Before that, it was generally considered impossible. Joakim was one of a group of three Swedes who revolutionized freestyle riding, inventing skills such as seat drag, the 540 unispin, and several others. They were also influential in the movement toward using only 20" unicycles for freestyle.

Once you learn to ride with your feet, learn to do it with your hands! It's a very interesting and unusual skill. Learning to position yourself properly is one of the main difficulties. First, turn the unicycle around. For handride, you generally sit on the seat backward, because this is a lot more comfortable. Actually, you don't exactly sit on the unicycle; rather you hang upside-down, with most of your weight on your abdomen. Position the seat so that the back bumper is resting near your navel, and reach down and grasp the pedals with both hands. I suggest you put the pedal in your dominant hand in the down position and the other pedal in the up position. Now you must learn to mount into handride. While holding the pedals, with the seat positioned as described above, set the wheel on the ground. Now jump up and forward while pulling up very hard on the "down" pedal and pushing down on the "up" pedal. Then start pedalling backward. This can take a lot of strength. The direction of motion should be backward, that is such that if you were to switch to sitting on the seat and pedalling with your feet without turning your body, you would be riding backward. It is also possible to handride forward, but this is more difficult and dangerous as will be explained later. When you mount, make sure to jump up a good ways; otherwise, you will fall off immediately. Eventually, you will get a feel for how to turn the wheel and will get a few cycles of the wheel.

When you are handriding, you can fall off in the direction of motion, or in the opposite direction from that in which you are moving. The former is not too much of a problem; you generally land on your feet, holding the wheel in your hands. It is falling off in the direction opposite motion that is a problem. I have never fallen off in this direction and landed on my feet. I usually catch myself with my hands, and land lying on the ground. Although I have never been injured falling off this way, it could be dangerous so try hard ot avoid falling off in that direction. This is the reason forward handride is more dangerous; you are more likely to fall off in such a way that you can't land on your feet. Although it can be a little unnerving, you have to lean farther in the direction opposite motion than feels comfortable. Otherwise you just fall off the other way immediately. So when handriding, try to adjust your speed so that you stay well over the wheel, but not so far forward that you fall off in the direction opposite motion. You can also use your legs to adjust the balance, but only a little bit. For the most part, they swing around in a somewhat ridiculous manner.

Handride video.

It is possible to transition from riding with your feet into and out of handride. Getting out is not very hard. Simply take one hand off the pedal and quickly insert a foot in its place. The other foot falls into place pretty much automatically, as you quickly sit up straight. If you want to go to sitting on the seat properly, you have to do a unispin. To get from riding into handride, you also have to do a unispin to get the seat turned around. Now try to put your abdomen on the seat as you do for handride. Lean down as far as you can while idling. At the end of one idle, pull a foot off the pedal and grab it with your hand. Now start pulling the pedal around and took the other foot off the other pedal. As this pedal comes forward, grab it with your hand and try to get going. Grabbing the pedals properly can be very tricky. Try to idle straight before attempting the transition. Also, make sure you are leaning forward sufficiently. This transition to handride has also been done from hand wheel walk with the legs extended, but I don't have anymore information on this trick. If you learn forward handride, you can also transition into it from regular riding without any idling or hand wheel walking. No more information on this skill either.

As an interesting side note, what is probably the greatest unicycle trick of all involved handriding. A Swedish circus performer, Reino, after six years of practice, was able to ride and ultimate wheel with his hands on a slackrope. A Swedish stamp was issued to commemorate his feat.

A spin is a where you go round in circles really fast. You do this by having your upper body on one side of the point you are turning about while your lower body is on the opposite side.

To do a spin -

1. Do a leaning turn, about a metre in radius or so.
2. Do a really hard action-reaction turn in the same direction as your leaning turn.
3. Pedal like mad.

If it just feels like you're turning in a tight circle, then you're not doing a spin. When you hit the spin, you'll feel like you're going round ten times as fast as normal and like you're not really steering, just being magically spun round and round. You'll totally know it.

If your pedals hit the ground, you're leaning too far, you don't have to lean incredibly hard to spin.

I learnt to do spins using a hockey stick. If you've got one, try using this. First learn to turn 360 degrees using the stick to turn you, then try and get into a spin using the stick to do the action reaction turn.

Once you get good at spins, you can do them straight away, out of stillstands or whatever without the leaning turn into them. I like to stillstand, then lean a little bit and go into a spin.

Nb: Action-reaction turn is a turn where you turn your upper body one way(the action) and the unicycle turns the other way(the reaction).

* Exiting the spin

The trick is just to keep practicing until you can do the spin really smoothly and then you can slow down and pedal out of it. Alternatively, do a pirouette out of it and then pedal off once you've slowed down a little, before you fall over.

In both cases, as you straighten up and ride out, your tyre will catch and you'll be able to ride straight off, you don't have to wait until the spin has fully stopped to ride off.
[edit]

Pirouettes

Pirouettes are similar to spins, except that you do not pedal while you spin around. Instead, you stand with the pedals horizontal, and let inertia spin you around. It helps to stand up on the pedals and hold your arms out and bring them in close to your body as you start to spin, like a ballerina does.

For this skill, you set the unicycle sideways, stand with one foot on each side of the wheel, hold one end of the seat with each hand, and hop. Although hopping standing on the wheel is a level six skill, it's actually one of the easiest things which can be done on a unicycle. The only reason it is on level six is that, as with all moves on the skill levels, you have to get into and out of it. The transitions are fairly tricky.

You should mount directly into it at first. There are two basic ways to do this; either jump up and plant both feet solidly against the frame, or climb up by leaning the unicycle a little to one side, putting one foot directly on top of the wheel, stepping up, and setting your other foot on the other side of the frame. (The latter is better if you plan to learn sideways wheel walk eventually, since the same technique is used to mount into that skill.) Now hop! It's really very simple, and should only take a little practice. You can do it with your feet solidly against the frame, or spread out a ways. The latter may be slightly harder, but again, it is better for learning sideways wheel walk.

The transitions can be fairly frustrating. To get into it, switch to seat in front hopping, then jump off the pedals. You can either spin the unicycle 90 degrees and land on the wheel, or jump around yourself and land, with the unicycle moving very little. This is actually fairly easy, but seems intimidating at first. Getting out tougher. There are several methods, including twisting around and switching to wheel walk, twisting and getting your feet directly on the pedals, jumping right down to seat in riding, and jumping down to seat in front hopping. The last is a good way to prepare for unispins. I usually use the twisting methods. The main thing to remember is to pause after each hop, but only attempt to twist around when you feel very well balanced. Twisting to the pedals is usually easiest when the pedal corresponding to the rear hopping foot is horizontal in front.

Side hopping is a somewhat silly trick, but you might want to learn it anyways. Stand to the side of the unicycle and put your right foot on the left pedal, or your left foot on the right pedal. Now lean (to the left if you are on the right and to the right if you are on the left) stand up on the pedal and hop. It may be slightly easier to do this if you put the free foot around in back on the other side of the tire, in order to hold the wheel still a little more. The main thing to remember is to lean a lot to one side, because otherwise you move sideways pretty quickly. I don't know how to get into it from riding, but to get out of it, you jump up, switch feet on the pedal, get the foot previously used for hopping to the other side, and idle seat-in-front.

A unispin is when you hold the unicycle in front of you, jump off the pedals, twist the unicycle and land on it again, hopefully on the pedals. A standard unispin is 180, but 360 is also common and 540 and 720 are heard of. You can also do 90, 270, 450, and 630 degree unispins into and out of hopping standing on the wheel, or 180 and 360 unispins while hopping standing on the wheel.

To do a 180 unispin you should stand in the seat out position; you can either do it with one hand or two hands. Two hands is much easier for beginners. When you're standing in the seat out position and your hands are in the unispin position, either both hands are on the same side of the saddle, or one is on each side in a crossways position. Its best to have the pedals flat. Jump up and spin it; you never need to let go of the uni. Then aim for the pedals or cranks, and land safely.

Now you have learned the 180 unispin. Next you should learn the 360 unispin, which is harder then the 180 unispin because now you must do one more rotation. To do a 360 unispin you should stand in the same position as for the 180 unispin. You can either have your hands in a crossways postion or both of your hands on the same side. It depends on whether you want to air the uni or just spin it on the ground. If you're doing the crossways position you don't have to let go of the uni and it will probably spin on the ground, which some people think is easier. Another method is to put both hands on the same side, then jump up, spin it, let go of the uni, then catch it again. What you prefer is a matter of taste. Don't forget to wear leg protection; safety goes first!

This skill consists of hopping seat in front, dropping the seat and frame onto you toe, and then kicking it back up.

First, while idling, gradually move your front hopping foot, which should be the upper foot while you are idling, over, until it rubs against the frame. Now transition smoothly to seat in front hopping. Between hops, edge this foot over even more, until it is touching the tire or rim. Now drop the seat, and catch the frame with your foot. Once you can catch the frame properly, practice getting the seat back up, so that you can catch it again. You should throw the seat done firmly, and at the same time lean slightly forward. After the frame touches your foot, lean back a little so that the seat bounces up again. Now catch the seat and go back to hopping or riding.

It looks cool to do a series of seat drops without hopping in between. I haven't tried this yet, but presumably it's a lot harder than just a single. Also, you can try to pause for a while before kicking the seat back up. Another good looking move is to combine this trick with trials, so that you jump onto an obstacle, drop the seat, catch it, and jump off again.

Crank idle is idling with your entire body off one side of the unicycle, one foot on the pedal and one foot where the crank goes into the unicycle hub. Presumably you can achieve this transition by first going to seat on side idle and then swinging your foot over the tire.

For a jump mount, hold the unicycle in front of you, (preferably with one hand, although you can also use both, if you are nervous about it) with the pedals level, then jump up, land your feet on the pedals, pause, then sit down on the seat. Sometime after you take off, but before you land, you can move the seat into exactly the right position. Make sure you land with all your weight on the pedals. This is probably the easiest mount, after the standard one, although it is intimidating at first. In order to overcome your fear, try mounting to seat-out riding. Simply hold the seat in front of you, and jump on the pedals, still holding the seat in front of you. You can also try doing a seat-in jump mount. That is, put the seat between your legs, then jump up and try to land your feet on the pedals. Hopefully after trying this a couple times you'll be ready for the regular jump mount, which is actually easier.
[edit]

Suicide

The suicide mount is simply a slightly harder and much more impressive extension of the jump mount. Position the unicycle in front of you, balance it, let go, pause, jump, land your feet on the pedals, and sit down on the seat. The longer you pause between letting go and jumping, the more impressive it is. To nerve yourself up for this undeniably scary trick, pratice doing regular jump mounts while holding the seat very lighlty. Try holding the seat with only a few fingers, and eventually only with your little finger. Now you should be ready to try it. Balance the unicycle very carefully, (with the pedals level) so that when you let go, the saddle falls toward you. If it falls to the side, you won't land it, and if it falls away from you land it seat in front by catching the saddle, but that's not a suicide mount, since the suicide mount must be done freehanded. Watch the saddle after you let go of it, and jump at the right moment, so that the saddle is in exactly the right place when you land. To a certain extent, you have to catch it with your legs as you come down.

Obviously it will be easier with the seat lowered.

Don't wear baggy pants, or you'll have to jump stupidly high so you don't knock the seat out of the way.
[edit]

Reverse

The reverse mount is simply a standard mount in reverse. Begin standing in front of the unicycle, sit on the seat and step onto the pedal that is slightly forward, bringing the unicycle up under you from behind.
[edit]

Side

The side mount is a fun and fairly easy mount. Stand behind the unicycle, place your strong foot on the pedal at the bottom of the stroke and hold the seat out to the side with the opposite hand. I find it easiest to hold the back of the seat and lock my elbow. Then simply step onto your strong foot while you swing the other leg forward (between your strong leg and the unicycle) and around the front of the seat to the other side. Relax your grip on the seat to bring it up under you as you place your free foot on the pedal and begin to idle.

Variations on this mount include swinging the leg around the seat an extra revolution and also swinging the leg around the back of the seat, mounting like a bike, which is harder than you would think.
[edit]
Side Jump to Wheel Walk

Once you are comfortable with some of the simpler wheel walk mounts, like putting the seat between you legs and jumping up forward, try the side jump mount to wheel walk. Hold the back of the seat with one hand, and stand next to the unicycle. Now jump up and sideways. Swing one leg around the saddle and swing the saddle back with your hand, then try to set your foot on the wheel, thus absorbing most of the impact. Now quickly bring the saddle back forward between your legs and land sitting on it. Since you don't have to jump up very far above the seat for this mount, (it's more about swinging the seat under you) you only fall down a very short distance, less than for the regular jump mount, so it's not very hard on your crotch. Now wheel walk out of it!
[edit]

Pickup

With the unicycle lying on the ground with tire pointing up, hop onto the pedals and reach down to pick up the seat with your hand. Video of pickup mount by Brian Mackenzie
[edit]

Kickup

Place the unicycle on the ground, lying on its side, facing forward, with the pedals level. The pedal on top should be behind (closest to you) and the pedal on the ground in front. Stand with the uni just in front of you, with the seat pointing diagonally to your right. Stand on the pedal. Your foot will actually be at a 45 degree angle to the pedal, so the left edge of your left foot will touch the pedal, and the right edge will touch the crankarm. Put the toe of your right foot under the saddle (from the outside, with your toe facing the wheel). This is the setup for the kickup mount. If you now shift your weight onto the pedal and pull the seat underneath you with your foot, the unicycle will come upright so you can put your other foot onto its pedal and ride away. Seat height is important here: it is easier with a lower seat, but if it is too low, the seat will fly out from between your legs. If it is too high, you'll experience extreme discomfort as you kick the saddle into your own crotch.